A BOWRAL dad has been dubbed a hero by local shoppers after he retrieved a roast chook from a would-be thief at Coles.

In arguably the most daddish rescue in modern history, Adrian Brennan, 58, got a round of applause from Bowral Coles staff and customers yesterday afternoon after he chased a young shoplifter into the carpark, demanding the thief return a roast chicken he didn’t pay for.

He got the chook back, completing the mission in his pluggers.

“Friends are now referring to me as the chook man,” Mr Brennan told The Land.

Despite being sunburned and with a split heel from the beach I rose above the pain barrier. Because there is no such thing as a poultry crime.

Adrian Brennan, Bowral hero

Mr Brennan, who had just returned from a beach holiday at South Durras, was in the fruit and veg section with his 20-year-old daughter Eliza when there was a commotion at the front of the store.

A young man had walked through the checkout area with a cooked chook and was making a beeline for the exit.

Eliza said her dad abandoned his trolley when he heard staff yelling at the man, and he chased the thief to the car park.

Upon confronting the young man and his mates in a waiting car, Mr Brennan said “Give me the bloody chicken”.

The thief relinquished the chook and took off.

“I think he was just stoked that he was able to catch up to the young guy, despite being 58,” said Mr Brennan's daughter Eliza.

Mr Brennan strode back into the store triumphantly, brandishing the chicken, to the applause of the supermarket.

“Despite being sunburned and with a split heel from the beach I rose above the pain barrier,” he said.

“Because there is no such thing as a poultry crime.”

Eliza said shoppers and staff applauded Mr Brennan when he returned to the store.

He then went back to his shopping.

“He was really basking in it,” Eliza said.

“People were coming up to him and shaking his hand, patting him on the back… One old lady came up to me and said, ‘your dad is a local hero you know’.

“I think he was just stoked that he was able to catch up to the young guy, despite being 58.”

Mr Brennan’s older daughter Lucy shared the series of events on Twitter.